1. DEN VANLIGA VÄRLDEN
2. ROPET PÅ ÄVENTYR
3. VÄGRAN ATT DELTA I ÄVENTYRET
4. MÖTET MED EN MENTOR
5. FÖRSTA TRÖSKELN
6. PRÖVNINGAR, VÄNNER OCH FIENDER
7. INGÅNGEN TILL DEN INNERSTA GROTTAN
8. DEN STÖRSTA UTMANINGEN
9. BELÖNING
10. VÄGEN TILLBAKA
11. ÅTERUPPTÅNDELSE
12. KOMMA TILLBAKA MED ELIXIRET

PERSONFUNKTIONER:

HUVUDPERSON/HJÄLTE
MENTOR
FIENDER
SKUGGOR
FORMSKIFTARE
TRICKSARE, CLOWNER
BUDBÄRARE
VÄNNER
VÄKTARE VID TRÖSKLARNA
SYMBOLISKA SAKER
SYMBOLISKA DJUR
 
 

STEG TOLV:  ÅTERVÄNDANDET

Efter att ha överlevt alla äventyr och förändringar, dött och återuppstått, återstår för de flesta huvudpersoner att återvända hem till den vanliga världen eller fortsätta resan in i det okända. Det handlar alltid om att ett delvis nytt liv börjar som inte liknar det gamla. I slutscenen på filmen Castaway ser vi huvudpersonen stå i ett fyrvägskors (nära den plats där berättelsen började) för att försöka välja väg ute på en tom landsbygd, han har stått länge och funderat vilket håll han ska ta. Den väg han slutligen tar vet vi, tittarna, mer om än han och vi förstår att det blir ett nytt liv för honom.

Om våra huvudpersoner är verkliga hjältar så återvänder de till den vanliga världen med insikter - elixisiret - från den speciella världen, återvänder med någon att dela med andra, eller med en förmåga, en styrka att hjälpa andra.

Fråga: På vilket sätt återvänder din huvudperson "hem"?

Filmen "Quest For Fire" har en underbar återvändarscen som visar hur berättande kanske en gång började. Jägare och samlare berättar runt elden vad som har hänt dem den senaste tiden därute i vildmarkerna. Den njuter av sina belöningar: att ha överlevt, att ha nedlagt byten, att ha sett främmande människor, att ha gjort nya upptäckter oc nya insikter.Tricksaren, humoristen,busen, clownen, i gruppen agerar ut hela berätteslen och får lyssnarna att skratta och häpna. Han skildrar en av tröskelväktarna han mött och får en skadad jägare att skratta så att hans sår läker bättre - en bra bild av hur berättelser läker oss människor. Återvändande med elixiret innebär att förändra vardagen, den vanliga världen och att använda äventyrets lärdomar för att hela våra sår.

Ett annat namn för återvändadet är "denoument", ett franskt ord som innebär att lösa en knut, knyta upp något. En berättelse är som en väv i vilken alla deltagare, alla karaktärer är sammanvävda till en meningsfull helhet. Om helheten inte är meningsfull faller berättelsen till marken. Förloppen i berättelsen knyts samman för att skapa konflik och spänning och i slutet måste dessa konflikter få en lösning och knutarna måste knytas upp, spänningen måste släppa.

Ofta hänger en del trådar lösa, säger vi, i historier som inte riktigt löser upp alla sina knutar. Alla dessa bilder av vad som sker i en berättelse handlar om att berättande är som att väva en väv och att denna väv måste avslutas för att inte kännas misslyckad. När vi läser en riktigt dålig berättelse eller ser en verkligt dålig B-film är det ofta denna helhet som saknas.

I återvändandet, det sista steget i berättelsen måste alla småhistorier och alla lösa trådar, tas om hand av berättaren.Återvändandet kan visserligen ställa nya frågor inför framtiden, det känns ofta riktigt för läsaren eller åskådaren, men alla de gamla frågorna måste mötas eller lösas på något sätt. Oftast försöker författare sluta cirkeln i detta sista steg av berättelsen.
 

TVÅ FORMER AV BERÄTTELSER

Det finns två sorters avslut på berättelserna. Den vanligare sorten som särskilt amerikanska filmer föredrar, är den där cirkeln slutes. Det handlar om en känsla av fullständighet, av att allt är komplett. Den andra sorten föredras ofta i Europa och Asien. Den är öppen i slutet, frågor hänger obesvarade och konflikter är inte lösta. Det är det tvetydiga slutet, ett återvändande som ställer frågor, inte besvarar dem. Det vore en förenkling att låtsas som problemet var så enkelt. Hjälten har visserligen lärt sig mycket av ävetyret men problemen upphör inte utan ställer nya konflikter i sikte. Det "lyckliga slutet" är inte nödvändigt för denna form, ja ofta inte ens önskvärt.

Fråga: Vilken form har berättelsen du analyserar?
 

1 THE CIRCULAR STORY FORM

The most popular story design seems to be the circular or closed form, in which the narrative returns to its starting point. In this structure you might bring the hero literally full circle back to the location or world where she started. Perhaps the Return is circular in a visual or metaphoric way, with a replay of an initial image, or the repetition of a line of dialogue or situation from Act One. This is one way of tying up loose ends and making a story feel complete. The image or phrases may have acquired a new meaning now that the hero has completed thejourney The original statement of the theme may be re-evaluated at the Return. Many musical compositions return to an initial theme to rephrase it at the ending.

Having your hero Return to her starting point or remember how she started ahows you to draw a comparison for the audience. It gives a measure of how far your hero has come, how shds changed, and how her old world looks different now. To give this circular feeling of completion and comparison, writers wiii sometimes put their heroes through an experience at the Return that was difficult or impossible for them at the beginning, so the audience can see how they have changed. In Ghos4 the hero was unable to say '1 love you" in his Ordinary World. But at the Return, having died and passed many tests in the land of death, he is able to say these all-important words so that his still-living wife can hear them.

In "Ordinary People", the young hero Conrad is so depressed in his Ordinary World that he can't eat the French toast his mother makes for him. lt's an outward sign of his inner problem, his inability to accept love because he hates himself for surviving his brother. In the Return, having passed through several death-and-rebirth ordeals, he goes to apologize to his girl friend for acting like a jerk. When she asks him to come inside for some breakfåst, this time he finds he has an appetite. His ability to cat is an outward sign of his inner change.

This actual change in behavior is more dramatically effective than Conrad just saying he feels different, or someone else noticing that he's grown and remarking on it. It communicates change on thesymbolie level, and affeets the audience indirecdy but more powerfully than a blatant statement. In a subtie way it gives a sense that a phase of his life is over, that a circie has been closed, and a new one is about to begin.
 
 

ACHIEVEMENT OF PERFECTION

The "happy ending" of Hollywood films link them with the world of fairy tales, which are often about the achievement of perfection. Fairy tales frequently end with a statement of perfection, like "and they lived happily ever after". Fairy tales bring the shattered family back into balance, back to completion.Weddings are a popular way to end stories. Marriage is a new beginning, the end of an old life of being single and the beginning of a new life as part of a new unit. New beginnings are perfect and unspoiled in their ideal form. Striking up a new relationship is another way to show a new beginning at the end of a story In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart makes a difficult Resurrection sacrifice, giving up the chance to be with the woman he loves. His reward, the Elixir he brings away from the experience, is his new alliance with Claude Rains. As he says, in one of the most famous tag lines in the history of the movies, 'Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
 
 

2 THE OPEN-ENDED STORY FORM

Storytellers have thought of many ways to create a circular feeling of completion or closure, basically by addressing the dramatic questions raised in Act One. However once in awhile a few loose ends are desirable. Some storytellers prefer an open-ended Return. In the open-ended point of view, the story-telling goes on arter the story is over; it continues in the minds and hearts of the audience, in the conversations and even arguments pcopie have in coffee shops after seeing a movie or reading a book.

Writers of the open-ended persuasion prefer to leave moral conclusions for the reader or viewer. Some questions have no answers, some have many. Some stories end, not by answering questions or solving riddles, but by posing new questions that resonate in the audience long after the story is over.Hollywood films are often criticized for pat, fairy tale endings in which all problems are solved and the cultural assumptions of the audience are left undisturbed. By contrast the open-ended approach views the world as an ambiguous, imperfect place. For more sophisticated stories with a hard or realistic edge, the open-ended form may be more appropriate.

FUNMONSOFTHERETURN
lake thejourney's other stages, Return with the Elixir can perform many functions but there is something special about being the last element in thejourney. Return is similar to Reward in some way& Both follow a moment of death and rebirth and both may depict consequences of surviving death. Some functions of Seizing the Sword may also appear in the Return, such as taking possession, celebrating, sacred marriage, campfire scenes, self-realization, vengcance, or retaliation. But Return is your last chance to touch the emotions of the audience. It must finish your story so that it satisfles or provokes your audience as you intended. It bears special weight because of its unique position at the end of the work, and its also a place of pitfalls for writers and their heroes.

SURPRISE
A Return can fall flat if everything is resolved too neatly orjust as expected. A good Return should untie the plot threads but with a cértain amount of surprise. It should be done a little taste of the unexpected, a sudden revelation. The Greeks and Romans orten
built a 'recognition' scene into the endings of their plays and novels. A young man and woman, raised as shepherds, discover to everyone's surprise they are prince and princess, prornised to each other in marriage long ago. In the tragic mode, Oedipus discovers the man he killed in the Ordeal was his father and the woman hejoined with in sacred marriage was his own mother. Here the recognition is cause for horror rather than joy The Return may have a twist to it. This is another case of misdirection: You lead the audience to believe one thing, and then reveal at the last moment a quite different reality. No Way Outflips you a totally different perception of the hero in the last ten seconds of the fihn. Basic Imtinct makes you suspect Sharon Stone's character of murder for the first two acts, convinces you she is innocent in the climax, then leaps back to doubt again in an unexpected final shot.There is usually an ironie or cynical tone to such Returns, as if they mean to say 'Ha, fooled ya! " You are caught foolishly thinking that human beings are decent or that good docs triumph over evil. A less sardonic version of a twist Return can be found in the work of writers like 0. Henry, who sometimes used the twist to show the positive side of human nature, as in his short story 'The Gift of the Magf'. A poor young husband and wife make saerifices to surprise cach other with Christmas presents. They discover that the husband has sold his valuable watch to buy his wife a clip for her beautiful long hair, and the wife has cut off and sold her lovely locks to buy him a fob for his beloved watch. The gifts and sacrifices cancel cach other out but the coupie is left with a treasure of love.

REWARD AND PUNISHMENT
A specializedjob of Return is to hand out final rewards and punishments. lt's part of restoring balance to the world of the story, giving a sense of completion. lt's like getting your grades after final exams. Villains should earn their ultimate fate by their evil deeds and they should not get off too easily. Audiences hate that. Punishment should fit the crime and have the quality of poetiejustice. In other words the way the Villan dies or gets hisjust comeuppance should directly relate to his sins.Heroes should get whats coifflng to them as well. Too many movie heroes get rewards they havedt really carned. The reward should be proportionate to the sacrifice they have offered. You dor@t get immortality for being nice. Also if heroes have failed to learn a lesson, they may be penalized for it in the Return.Of course, if your dramatic point of view is that life isdt fair and you feeijustice is a rare thing in this world, then by all means reflect this in the way rewards and punishments are dealt out in the Return.

THE ELIXIR

The real key to the final stage of the Hero'sjourney is the ~. What does the hero bring back with her from the Special World to share upon her Return? Whether its shared within the community or with the audience, bringing back the Elixir is the herds final test. It proves &.he's been there, it serves as an example for others, and it shows above all that death can be overcome. The Elixir May even have the power to restore life in the Ordinary World.Like everything else in the Hero'sjourney, returning with the Elixir can be literal or metaphoric. The Elixir may be an actual substance or medicine brought back to save an endangered community (a feature of several "Star Trek" TV plots and the object of the quest in Medicine Man). It may be literal treasure wrested from the Special World and shared within a group of adventurers. More figuratively, it may be any of the things that drive pcople to undertake adventure: money, fame, power, love, peace, happiness, success, health, knowlcdge, or having a good story to tell. The best E"irs are those that bring hero and audience greater awareness. In The Treasure ofthe Sie-rra Madre, the physical treasure of goid is revealed to be worthicss dust, and the real Elixir is the wisdom to live a long and pcaceful life.In the tales of King Arthur, the Grail is the Elixir that, once shared, heals the wounded land. The Fisher King can rest casy again. If Percival and the knights had kept the Grail for tiiemselves, there would have been no healing.